Eyes of Silver, Heart of Gold
by ojosnegro
Summary: Hermione Granger is having the perfect seventh year at Hogwarts. However, she has a terrible mishap with a love potion. The antidote won't be ready for another month. Meanwhile, the only one who can sedate her lust is Draco Malfoy.
1. Chapter 1

Eyes of Silver, Heart of Gold

Hermione's seventh school year had started without much incident. She knew it was going to be the busiest and most important of her years at Hogwarts. She had prepared thoroughly the summer before for it. She had prepared study schedules for each class, brought all the necessary books from her small home library, and reviewed every last bit of material she had found useful since her first year of Hogwarts. Which in her opinion was everything. Hermione was a lot more vigorous and enthusiastic about this year in particular though, because for the first time in a long time, Harry's well being and the well being of the wizardry world wasn't hanging like a black cloud over her head. During their sixth year, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were thrust into the fight of their lives at the ripe age of sixteen. The dark lord had risen, had prepared, and had attacked. After an antagonizing battle, Harry came out successful over Voldermort. All three of the friends were alive and together. And Hermione was finally, for once, worry free. She only had to worry about her NEWTs. But that was something she would gladly fret about. Worrying about normal things in life like grades was a pleasure compared to worrying about staying alive.

The war had left the wizardry community with a sense of happiness and fulfillment. Voldermort's prime days had been darks ones for everybody- muggleborn and pureblood alike. For the first time the sense of prejudice had disappeared among most people, no matter what their background. Most people were glad to be living in peaceful times. Some extreme cases, like elite blueblood pureblood families, were merely tolerant of muggleborns but with the events of the war still fresh in their minds they didn't generally attack unless provoked. Harry Potter was of course as famous as ever. He was enjoying his last year of Hogwarts...maybe a little too much. He was currently in a big row with Ginny, his girlfriend, over accepting chocolates from a couple of admirers.

Hermione was watching the discussion in a nearby sofa. She was smiling secretly to herself over Harry's discomfort but not getting involved. It was late January and the mention of Valentine's Day was circulating the school. There was going to be a big ball this year. She was happy to attend one last big ball of Hogwarts with all her friends. However, at the moment she wasn't romantically interested in anyone. Her infatuation with Ron had ended in sixth year after he became good friends with Lavender Brown. Ron and Lavender were currently still dating. Since their initially honeymoon phase had passed it was more bearable to be around the couple. They weren't on top of each other at all times. Hermione's life was normal for once. She was happy. She felt blessed. She wrote an entire foot longer than required for her charms essay that night due to her good mood.

The next day Hermione entered the Great Hall for breakfast. She got up pretty early each day and today was no exception. She enjoyed the tranquility of a mostly empty Great Hall. Today the enchanted roof was showcasing a vast periwinkle blue sky. The kind that seemed to go on forever. She sighed contently and grabbed a bagel, scrambled eggs, and jam and placed them on her plate. She ate slowly, taking sips of her pumpkin juice, while she read one of her textbooks. After a few paragraphs she heard a few giggles from across the room. A small group of third year Slytherin boys and girls were sitting at one end of the Slytherin table having breakfast but laughing excitedly, talking loudly, and taking peaks at all the other tables of the hall. Hermione thought this behavior to be odd since Slytherins didn't display great mirth often, unless they were humiliating someone. And thirteen year old third years never came to the Great Hall this early. Hermione expected to hear some kind of explosion to go off at any of the non-Slytherin tables any second now. None came. After another fifteen minutes of so, more students started appearing in the Hall and sat at various tables but nothing odd occurred. After five more minutes the group of third year Slytherins got up and left. Hermione's guard softened a bit. Usually Slytherins liked witnessing their harassment personally. She had probably been paranoid for no reason. After five more minutes of no bangs or booms going off, Hermione closed her book and got up from her seat. She usually waited for her friends, but the third years had distracted her from her reading and she wanted to review a bit more at a quiet place for the history exam she had first period.

She picked up her bag a walked towards the giant wooden double door entrance of the hall. She looked up at the beautiful enchanted ceiling one last time. It still looked incredible. For some reason the ceiling was even more wonderful now. It seemed glossy and shiny to her. Absolutely wonderful. Just as she was reaching out for the slightly opened door and exiting the hall, she found herself face to face with Draco Malfoy. His hand which had been reaching for the same exact spot of the door had brushed her. Hermione had grabbed back her hand immediately. She couldn't help but be aware of the sensation of his hand on hers. She didn't like to be anywhere near him. And right now he was looking at her with narrowed silver eyes, as if she had meant to touch him or even get in his way. She narrowed her eyes too.

"Get out of my way, Granger." His voice was cool and disdainful.

"I wasn't trying to get in your way, Malfoy. I will gladly distance myself from you if you stop blocking the exit." She retorted.

"What? You can't figure out how to open a door?" He asked with arrogance, motioning at the other heavy wooden door that wasn't ajar.

"I can't push a door that heavy open and you just have to step back for a second!" She exclaimed starting to lose her temper. She couldn't believe she was standing there, wasting her time, talking about doors with Draco Malfoy.

"Well, I don't see how that's my problem and I'm not going to move for _someone like you_." He said, putting a clear implication on those last three words.

Hermione bristled. She couldn't believe she was still getting this sort of drizzle from ignorant pricks like Malfoy. "It is clearly your problem because unless you move, we'll be standing here until graduation! But since your ignorant little mind apparently can't comprehend that, you'll have to excuse me." And with that, Hermione barreled her 5'5'' body past Draco's 5'10'' frame, brushing roughly against his side and making him lose footing for a second.

"You'll be sorry you did that you little priss." Draco drawled in a low yet menacing voice that carried down the hall. Hermione didn't bother looking back. She hurried away, clutching her book. She hated that she had to touch him just now. She now knew how hard his body was and that her head came just to the start of his pointed chin. She could still smell his musk and hear the low tones of his last threat. And she ust couldn't forget the look of disgust in his narrowed silver eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N Thank you for the feedback. This is my first story and your reviews were quite encouraging.

Eyes of Silver, Heart of Gold

Chapter 2

That entire day Hermione felt a little off at times. She couldn't put her finger on what exactly it was that was different. She was a little over emotional and sensitive. The view of anything particular beautiful, like the lake glistening in the sun, had her heart racing and colors would look extremely heightened for the moment. She was jumpy and irritable and she couldn't concentrate on any particular thing for too long. Except for one thing...the silver eyes. The whole scene with Malfoy that morning would replay in her mind. It made her angry and her heart would begin racing. She concluded that it was affecting her so much because she hadn't been provoked like that in months. Hermione had been living in a happy bubble for the past months and Malfoy had burst it. She really resented him for it. Had the war really had been for nothing? Had he really not changed his opinions about her? "_Someone like you_" indeed! She was frustrated and angry and really wanted to get her hands on him. She wanted to shake him, slap him, do something to make him understand. But at the same time she wanted nothing to do with him ever again.

For about the sixth time that day, she shook her thoughts away and concentrated on what Professor McGonagall was saying about getting the exact and correct shade of pink on their transfigured piglets. Suddenly a commotion occurred a few rows behind Hermione. A chair had toppled over and there was a chorus of surprised gasps. When she turned around Hermione was quite astonished to see that the usually shy Susan Bones had thrown herself on top of a very surprised Dean Thomas.

"Su-susan! What are you doing?" Dean asked while trying to pry the redhead's hands off his shirt collar and turning his head away from her pursed lips.

"Dean! Oh Dean, please kiss me! Just once! I need you to kiss me!" Susan exclaimed, becoming more frantic every second. She had him trapped him between her body and his desk. The class was clamoring around them. McGonagall had recovered from her own surprise and was telling everyone to sit down. A few students tried to pry Susan away from Dean, but she twisted and turned and let out a frustrated wail rebutting all attempts. After a few more tries, Dean managed to push her a few feet away from him and Seamus took the chance to grab Susan by the waist from behind and pull her further away. She let out a piecing wail of displeasure.

"Deeeeeeeaaaan! Noooo! I need you to touch me! I need you!" She was completely out of control, out of breath, and quiet upset. Tears had started running down her face. McGonagall had finally made it through the throng of students and had reached the upset girl.

"Miss Bones! What is the matter with you? This is very unsightly behavior! Twenty points from Hufflepuff!" Susan just cried louder, her sobs coming in short gasps and her face completely red. Professor McGonagall got closer to Susan and closely inspected her face. The girl's pupils were dilated, almost out of focus. Something was just not right.

"Mister Seamus and Mister Fletchley, could you please escort Miss Bones to the Infirmary. Tell Madame Pomfrey what happened." Justin grabbed Susan's other arm, and together the boys led her out of the classroom. Susan's sobs were heard all the way down the hall.

Professor McGonagall ordered everyone back to their seats and tried to pick up the lesson again. However, the class was quite agitated and she herself was a bit shaken by the odd incident.

"What do you think happened to her?" Harry whispered to Ron and Hermione.

"The girl has gone completely mental! Either that or she really has the hots for Dean." Ron said and the trio looked up at Dean who still looked quite shocked.

"I think she was under a spell. Susan wouldn't act like that." Hermione said worriedly but returning her attention to the professor. Professor McGonagall had just taken five points off Gryffindor from Parvati and Lavender who were still loudly exclaiming about the incident. The class returned to normal order.

It wasn't until later in the evening that Ron, Harry, and Hermione found out that dozens of incidents similar to the one that had occurred in their Transfiguration class had happened all over the castle. Girls and boys from different houses had attacked other students, demanding kisses and physical satisfaction. The students had been overtaken by a fit of lust. They were not in control of their actions. They were unreasonable and were left overnight in the Infirmary for observation. The next morning, a couple more students reacted with the same malady. They were all taken to Madame Pomfrey. Most of the student body was excited about the incidents. They found them humorous. However, there was an under lying sense of fear and uncertainty. After all, no one knew exactly was happening to the students and who the next victim would be. No one wanted to be the next embarrassing mess of tears and wails.

It wasn't until the third day that Madame Pomfrey made an announcement that she had discovered what had happened to the students. The students were under the affect of a Touch-me Love Potion. The potion was an old-fashioned concoction, that was really more like a lust potion rather than a love potion. It was used in medieval times by fair ladies trying to catch rich husbands. They would slip them this potions and when the men attacked them in a fit of lust, they would use the compromising situation to make the guilty men have to marry them for "destroying their purity". The recipe for this potion was most likely passed down through generations of pureblood families. Madame Pomfrey had noticed that the seemingly random victims were all from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff. There wasn't a single Slytherin in the group. Of course, a handful of students were affected each day and it might have just have been a coincidence that no Slytherins had been affected yet. But the implications behind the nurse's words were clear. It was hard to pinpoint the person who had given out the potion to the student body because the maker of the potion was not the person who you lusted for after consuming it. Instead, you were bewitched by the first person you came into physical contact with the minute you took the potion. The potion was most likely slipped into the food served in the Great Hall since such a large variety of students had been affected.

The school prefects were debriefed about the situation and asked to keep a look out and report anything that might help catch the love potion creator. Hermione sighed. She did not need another thing to worry about. She had been very annoyed by the whole situation. At least three more of her classes had been interrupted with love potions incidents. She came across a tiny first year girl who was being attacked by a love sick fifth year guy in the hall and spent about fifty minutes sorting out the messy situation. Before Madame Pomfrey had announced what had been affecting the students, Hermione's already frayed nerves were on high alert. She didn't like not knowing what the invisible menace that was attacking students was. It reminded her of her war days. When the truth was revealed, she was angry to know that someone's dumb prank (probably a Slytherin's!) had cause so many problems. It reminded her of a specific Slytherin. Ever since her most recent encounter with him all her problems had started. Hermione was still getting those odd lapses of concentration, mood swings, and anemia. She found it extremely difficult to complete simple assignments. She couldn't sleep at night. She was constantly anxious and jumpy, like something was eating at her insides.

Madame Pomfrey had started administrating the affected students with the antidote. The day after the prefects were alerted to keep an extra lookout, Ernie Macmillan and Ron had discovered a group of five Slytherin third-years in an empty classroom. Both prefects had a heard a commotion while doing their rounds. The Slytherins had gotten into an argument and were discovered with a bottle of Touch-me Love Potion. It seems like they had been trying to decide which of the five was to take the potion in order to deviate the blame away from Slytherin house. The red handed Slytherins were reported to their Head of House, Snape. They were interviewed by the Potions Masters and they confessed that they had indeed slipped the potion in several flasks of pumpkin juice that were sitting on the Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff tables a few mornings ago. All five of the students were suspended and given detention for two weeks. Two hundred points were taken from Slytherin as well. When Hermione heard the news from Ron she remembered the Slytherin third years she had been suspicious of a few days ago. She wished she had acted upon her suspicions. She had been feeling so horrid since that morning that she wondered if she had been affected by the potion as well. However, she wasn't showing any of the usual symptoms so she blamed it on stress and perhaps a bit of a cold. She asked Madame Pomfrey for a little Pepper-Up Potion the next day.

For the next week, students kept having lust fits but the number of them started diminishing as the week wore on. Soon Madame Pomfrey concluded that everyone who had drank the potion had probably taken the antidote. Hermione was, however, still having trouble concentrating. She had a constant headache and couldn't do schoolwork. Her frayed nerves had given away to her feeling like a constant zombie. It was affecting her grades and the stress of falling behind her NEWT study schedules was eating her alive. She would practically spend the night at the library to no avail.

During one of her late night sessions, Hermione tiredly gathered her books and got up to head back to the Gryffindor common room. She heard an arrogant cold voice behind her.

"What's little Miss Priss and Proper doing up so late?" Malfoy's silver eyes flashed in the dark. He had just stepped out of one of the book aisles and was now standing on the other side of the large writing desk Hermione had been sitting at with his arms crossed. Hermione just stared at him and gave no response. "I'm going to have to report you. It would serve you right. I told you I would punish you for shoving me." Draco drawled and stepped around the desk.

His proximity made Hermione react. "You'll be in just as much trouble as me. You're out after hours as well." She responded defiantly, raising her chin and not moving an inch back.

"Stupid Gryffindors don't ever know when to back down." He got even closer. Hermione reached for her wand that was in her pocket but his quick reflexes allowed him to grab onto her forearm. He twisted him towards her, trying to intimidate her with his height. There was barely any space between them. Hermione's body burned and she was so close to him that she had to arch her back in order to distance herself from his face. Her heart was racing, her breath became hitched, and she hadn't felt more awake in weeks. She was staring defiantly into his eyes. "You wouldn't dare do anything. Stupid Slytherins are all talk and no bite." The evil sneer that was on his face faltered. He gave her one last hard look. Then he roughly pushed her away from him, pointed his wand up towards the library ceiling, and said an incantation. A great red light exploded from his wand with a great bang, illuminating most of the library. Just as quickly as he said the spell, Draco had disappeared. Hermione could hear Madame Pince's shrill voice from a distance and quickly approaching footsteps.

Hermione was a bit stunned and blinded from the sudden bright light. Even so, on pure reflexes, she had gotten up and gathered her bag in a matter of seconds. She ran down one of the aisles that she knew led to the closest library exit. Luckily, she knew the school well at night. She casted a quick cloaking spell on herself and kept running. Hermione ran and ran and didn't stop until she was safely in the common room.

The adrenaline was still pumping through her body. She caught her breath, replaying everything that had happened to her through her mind. She cursed Malfoy over and over again. She climbed up to her room and threw herself on her bed. Hermione was suddenly too tired to do anything else. Her last thoughts were on how much she hated Malfoy and on how much she wanted to see him again... although she wasn't quite for what reason. For the first time in almost two weeks, Hermione was able to get a long and peaceful night's sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N Sorry for the delay. I am busy with classes but I swear I will finish the fanfic. I have been a fanfic reader for a long time and I really dislike unfinished fanfics so I promise I will finish mine. I was surprised that so many people have signed up to get the alerts for my story. It makes me happy. :)

The next day Hermione was her usual self. She no longer felt zapped of all energy. The good night's sleep had done wonders and Hermione walked down to the Great Hall with a big smile on her face. She greeted her friends energetically. Harry beamed a grand smile back looking a bit relieved. He had been giving her worried looks for the past week, probably due to her odd tired behavior. He hadn't said much to her except asking her occasionally if she was okay. She would respond that she was a little tired from studying extra for NEWTs. Harry seemed to accept the answer. After all, his own stomach did flip flops when he remembered that NEWTs were approaching.

Hermione's energy continued throughout the day. She almost won Gryffindor fifty house points by answering questions in class correctly and brewing the best concoction in Potions class. She also was very productive with her homework and NEWTs study schedule. She almost caught up with the work she had fallen behind on the previous week. Sitting in the library reminded her of the blond Slytherin. She still simmered when she remembered how he almost got her caught by the librarian after hours. The nosy and pretentious boy couldn't leave her in peace. What harm had she been doing him by using the library at night? He really just hated to see her happy. She wasn't going to give Malfoy that satisfaction today though. Today she was happy. She felt like she could do anything. She remembered wanting to see him as she fell asleep the night before and she was pretty sure it had been because she wanted to clobber him on the head. However, she couldn't afford to get into that sort of trouble. She had much more productive things to do with her time. She fought the intense urge of wanting to get her hands on him and continued working.

That night there was a prefects meeting. With one glance Hermione spotted Draco's platinum blond hair. She made a point not to look his way even once. Instead, as she headed the meeting, she volunteered herself to sign up for extra night rounds. The best way to use her time was to keep busy. She went over the schedule and several special announcements with the prefects. Ever since the incident with the love potion, the number of students that were pulling pranks after hours had increased. She explained that this was the reason for the extra night rounds. As she glanced back into the classroom after the meeting was over, she got one last look at Malfoy. He was sitting on a tabletop waiting for another two Slytherin prefects who were looking over the prefects schedule. She couldn't help but stare. He was staring back. Immediately her heart started racing and her cheeks flushed. She turned around and left. "Keep busy busy busy!" She repeated to herself in her mind as she walked down the hall.

Hermione's energy accompanied her the next couple of days. However, half way through the week Hermione started feeling lethargic once more. She couldn't fathom the reason why. She had taken Pepper-up Potion just a week ago and she had felt fine just the day before. But once again, Hermione couldn't concentrate on any particular paper for too long and her work began to suffer. The problem had grown worse because Hermione had signed up for many extra prefect night rounds when she was feeling well. She managed to switch a few of the rounds over to other prefects but her workload was still very heavy. Hermione had to patrol for two hours every other night of the week. The minimum amount of sleep she was living on greatly suffered. She couldn't believe that just five days ago she had slept so well...right after bumping into the jerk.

Hermione sighed as she leaned against a wall. She was currently on one of her rounds. It was around three o' clock in the night and she was in a corridor off the side of the Great Hall and castle main entryway. She was a near a courtyard and the draft of fresh air that ran down the hall was soothing. It lulled the exhausted Hermione into a sense of peace. She was tired of worrying. She knew something was wrong with her. She always felt like she was forgetting something, like there was something she needed. It wouldn't let her concentrate. But right now the breeze was perfect and she didn't have to think about anything in particular. She closed her eyes in contentment.

"Why Granger, sleeping on the job?" A voice cut through the quiet like ice. Hermione jerked to attention. She peered down the hall and that's when she saw him.

Draco Malfoy was standing at the end of the hall. His wand light cast a low glow on his face making him look eerie in the dark. Hermione's hair was standing on end. She felt her pulse quickening. Her adrenaline was pumping. It seemed like this was the moment she had been waiting for since last week's faceoff in the library. "What are you doing here?" Hermione asked, raising her wand as well.

"I was doing my rounds." Draco stepped closer.

"Your rounds are in the astronomy tower. You aren't supposed to leave your post." Hermione tensed more with each step he took.

"I was heading back to my room but I couldn't help notice the mudblood had been left unguarded. What wrong? You've been looking more terrible than usual. Did you finally realize that no matter how much you try no one is going to want you?" He was now directly in front of her. Trying to intimidate her with his height again. Way too close once more.

Hermione registered his words. But at the same time the sound of her blood rushing in her ear was disconcerting. At that moment all she felt was extreme hate, disgust, anger. She didn't back down an inch. Her eyes were boring into his. Her wand was pressed up against his chest. She wanted to hurt him. She want to crush him. She wanted to crush her lips against his.

Hermione roughly grabbed Draco's shirt front and pushed him towards her. She leaned forward and gave into her primitive desires. She kissed Draco hard, crushing her lips onto his, putting all her frustrations into it. She was hurting her own mouth but she didn't care. She felt rage and desire and she just wanted to make him feel something.

It only lasted about five seconds. Draco grabbed Hermione's hair from behind and violently pulled her head back and slammed her back against the wall. "What the hell was that? How dare you touch me with your dirty mouth! Maybe I wasn't clear enough." He tightened his grip on both her upper arms. "No one wants you mudblood." He was furious.

Hermione was afraid. She couldn't believe she had just done that. She was disgusted with herself. She wanted to run. But at the same time she was very aware of his proximity and she still felt that disquieting desire. "Let go of me." She said weakly. Her eyes were becoming unfocused again, because all she could think about were his bruised lips.

Draco registered the lustful look in her eyes with surprise and revulsion. He hissed. "Don't ever touch me again." He gave her one last shake, shoving her against the wall again. Then he turned and quickly made his way back down the hall.

Hermione remained against the wall for the moment. She couldn't believe what just happened. She wanted to cry. Because at that moment, Hermione realized several things all at once. She was no longer feeling exhausted. She was no longer distracted. A quiet sense of peace had fixed itself onto her mind, like she had found what she needed. At that moment Hermione realized that she had lusted over Malfoy. And that tomorrow he will probably tell the whole school about the desperate mudblood. It was absurd! She did not like Malfoy. She hated him. He was so cruel and cold hearted. She couldn't possible actually want to kiss him! She knew it must be the lust potion those third year Slytherins had slipped into people's drinks. It all made sense. She had started feeling weird since that morning. She had bumped into _him_ that morning. She needed to get the antidote right now.

She couldn't wake Madame Pomfrey at that time of the night though. Not unless it was an emergency. To Hermione it seemed to be the worst kind of emergency that she was liable to snog Malfoy again if she saw him. However, her rational side knew Madame Pomfrey would not be happy with her.

Hermione left the hall for the Gryffindor common room. Her rounds weren't over for another 15 minutes but she didn't care. She wanted to get away from that hall and that horrible moment. She went to her bed and stayed up all night thinking about what happened. How had she not known, not reacted to the love potion for such a long time? Why had it affected her in such a weird way? She knew some potions gave certain people different side effects and she also knew that your original feelings for the person affected the strength of the potion. Perhaps she had been able to resist Malfoy for so long because she hated him very much. She was dreading tomorrow. She knew the news of the kiss, and perhaps more, was going to be circulating the halls tomorrow. Malfoy wouldn't let this chance pass him by.

At six in the morning Hermione had gotten out of bed and gotten ready. She practically flew down to the Infirmary. She knew that, luckily, Madame Pomfrey was always an early bird. The nurse was in her office on the left side of the large main room. She was looking over some bottles. Hermione politely knocked on the door.

"Good morning, Madame Pomfrey." Hermione entered the room.

"Oh! Good morning my dear. It's so early. What's wrong? Don't tell me that Potter has broken another bone!" Madame Pomfrey said walking around a table towards the door that led to the main Infirmary room.

"No no! Harry is fine. Don't worry." Hermione smiled "I was just wondering...I came to ask...could I have some antidote for the Touch-me Love Potion?"

"Oh, I have run out! There was a student who came in just four days ago. She took the last bit. I have been brewing some more since Valentine's Day is next week and there is bound to be some trouble. Unfortunately, the potion takes about a month to make. It's an old potion and some of the ingredients are rare and hard to work with. But why do you need it? Did you get some of the Touch-me Love Potion too?"

Hermione had felt the blood drain out of her face. There was no more potion. There wouldn't be any for a month! She hadn't realized how embarrassing it was to tell the prim nurse the truth. That she needed it urgently. That she felt the need to kiss Malfoy at times. Either way, there was no point in letting her know now.

"Oh no, Madame" Hermione managed to choke out. "I just heard about that last girl last night and was surprised students are still being affected. I wanted to have some on me just in case any of the prefects or I had an emergency at night."

"Always thinking ahead! Don't worry my dear, it shouldn't be a problem. I am sure that no more students will be under those affects any longer." The nurse smiled. Hermione felt like throwing up. She managed a weak smile back and inclined her head as a good bye.

She stepped out of the office. As she closed the door behind her, Hermione felt like she was doomed. She was going to be lusting over Malfoy and not going to be able to concentrate on her studies for a month. And there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N- So sorry for the delay guys, life happened but I won't ever give up this fanfic so don't you worry. Thank you for all your reviews, subscriptions, and faves. Now, to help you remember, a summary of what's happened thus far:

After the war, Hermione and everyone in her year returns for a seventh year at Hogwarts. It was great to be back in school with nothing to worry about except schoolwork. People were more tolerant about muggleborns. However, her happy bubble is burst by Draco Malfoy who is still a nasty to her. Hermione unknowingly drinks a love potion put in her pumpkin juice by some young Slytherin pranksters. The first person she bumps into after the incident is Malfoy and she begins having strange urges to touch him. She doesn't notice it at first. She had a different reaction to the potion than most people. Instead of reacting in an attack of lust, she just begins becoming tired and disconcentrated, unable to even do her schoolwork. However, whenever she encounters Draco, her energy returns to her and she can function normally. In the last encounter, she forces a kiss upon Malfoy, and that's when she knows she has been affected by the love potion too. She runs to get some antidote potion from Madame Pomfrey but is informed that the antidote ran out and won't be available for another month.

I haven't done disclaimers and I think it's mandatory to do so? I do not own Harry Potter.

Chapter 4

Hermione walked away from the infirmary with shaking legs. What was she going to do? What was she going to _do? _ She has kissed Draco Malfoy last night and she knew that soon she would want to, need to do it again. On top of that, Malfoy had probably spread last night's incident to half of the school. She couldn't deal with any ridicule or taunting at the moment. She felt trapped. Her skin was sweating and her pulse was beating erratically. Hermione took a deep breath and began running to the one place she always went to when she needed to solve a problem. The library.

Once she stepped into the vast room, with its high ceilings and never ending book aisle, her eyes sparkled with hope. There had to be an answer to her predicament in here. She was never one to give up because of a problem. She had two full hours before her first class. She was going to use the time to find a solution. Either way, making an entrance at the Great Hall for breakfast was not appetizing to her at the moment. Especially if he was going to be there spreading his half truths. At least one good thing had resulted from last night. Hermione felt boundless energy and her mind was whizzing at a mile a minute.

She took about a dozen books off the bookshelves. Books specializing in love potions, potions to confuse the senses, potions that dealt with pheromones, and books about the properties of potion ingredients. She started on the love potion books. They weren't very helpful. Since love potions were forbidden in Hogwarts none of the books had any actual love potion recipes. There were descriptions on various potions, description on antidotes, history about famous potion makers, and extraordinary cases involving the concoctions. The actual potions and antidotes would be in the restricted section. She had access to it as a seventh year student but she would have to request access from Madame Pomfrey later. She threw those books aside. Hermione started to look at the pheromones books. If she couldn't get an love potion antidote perhaps there was a specific ingredient that would at least assist her in handling the problem. An ingredient that would block her pheromone receptors so she was incapable of lust. She found a potential recipe that would block her pheromone receptors. However, the side effects were dizziness and sleepiness. The Touch-Me Love Potion was already giving her those. She was sure this additional potion would knock her out for good. She needed something that wasn't going to make her sleepy. Pepper-Up Potion was listed as helping with drowsiness but she had already been taking it and it hadn't helped at all. There was mention of a Flame Potion that made you incapable of love by essentially making you irritable and hateful towards everyone. There was a warning on this particular potion because some people reacted extremely aggressively to this recipe and in some cases the effects were permanent. She didn't want to risk that. She had already reacted weirdly enough to the Touch-Me Love Potion.

Her wand shot sparks. She had set it up as an alarm for five minutes before Charms class. She gathered her notes and her quill. She would come back to check the restricted section of the library later.

As she walked down the hall she got herself mentally prepared for the onslaught of taunting that was sure to come. "Don't mind what they say. It's all not true any way. Don't let it bother you Hermione. You're better than that." She repeated to herself in her mind. She had her poker face ready.

She entered the classroom two minutes before class began. A few classmates by the door turned their head towards her. Hermione almost flinched but she determinedly look straight at them. The students turned in their seats and continued having their conversations and arranging their school supplies. Hermione was surprised, they didn't seemed to be maliciously whispering anything about her person.

"Hi Hermione!" Neville called out to Hermione's left. He was sitting on the seat right on the edge of the aisle right next to the door. "Where you able to complete the homework? I couldn't find anything about the lunar effects on the Cutler countercharm. I looked for hours and hours!" Neville doesn't seem to have heard anything about the incident last night with Draco. Of course Neville wasn't usually the first to know about such things but the rest of the class didn't seem to know either. And Draco Malfoy never wasted any time to humiliate. He must be saving the incident for another time. Or maybe the pedigree wizard's reputation would be ruined if it came to be known that he came into any physical contact with a Mudblood. Either way, Hermione was relieved.

"Hermione?" Neville was staring at her because she was still standing there by the door, not answering his questions.

"Oh sorry Neville, yes I did find the answers for the Cutler countercharm. Did you look through the lunar effect annual archives? You had to look carefully but there were about three cases on Cutler countercharms reacting strangely every five years or so."

"Wow, really? I didn't think to look through those. Ugh!" Neville covered his eyes with his hands. "I tried so many charms books."

"If you want I'll let you look over my essay. Professor Flitwick seems to be late." Hermione said, reaching for her satchel.

"Really? Thank you much! I'll repay you next time we go to Hogsmead! My treat!" Neville said, moving down the aisle to give Hermione room to sit.

"Oh there's no need Neville. I know that you worked hard on your essay. I saw you at the library the past few days." She smiled as she sat down. She passed the parchment with her essay on it to Neville. He looked over it and began writing on his own paper every so often. Meanwhile, Hermione watched him work, lost in thought, restless because what she wanted to be doing was looking for an answer for her predicament. And why had Malfoy not said anything about last night?

"There! Thank you so much Hermione! You're always saving me from myself." Neville's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. He was giving her a shy smile and passing her paper back to her.

Hermione smiled back. "Don't say that Neville. You're a great student." Hermione was glad to have friends like Neville. It felt good to help him out. Normal. Something she hadn't felt like for a while. Professor Flitwick entered the room and class started.

After charms class, Hermione had another two hour break before dinner. She hadn't seen Harry and Ron all morning. She couldn't miss dinner or they would worry about her. Until then though, she would head to the library and attack the restricted section.

She went down to the library and approached Madame Pomprey. She told the librarian she had to use the restricted section of the library. Luckily, Defense Against the Dark Arts class had assigned a paper recently that required research in the restricted section. Otherwise, Madame Pomprey wouldn't have believed her when she said she needed the section for an assignment. Like always, Madame Pompfrey still gave Hermione a suspicious stare before allowing her into the restricted section.

Hermione stepped into the roped off section. The restricted section always gave Hermione the feeling of the forbidden. It seemed darker than the rest of the library. Perhaps because the bookshelves were stacked closer together and there weren't as many open study areas. Here Hermione could find what she was looking for. Actual love potion recipes.

After a good twenty minutes of searching, she found exactly what she needed. Amortentia. The most powerful love potion in the world. A few pages after the potion potion was the Amortentia antidote. Amortentia was in essence a lust potion, just like the Touch-Me Love potion. The person who drank Amortentia fell into a deep infatuation with the person whose essence was in the potion. In that sense it was a smarter potion because it was person-specific, unlike the Touch-Me Love potion. However, Amortentia still affected a person's deepest and most basic feelings of lust. Hermione figured that the strongest love potion in the word must be countered by the strongest love potion antidote in the world. The Amortentia antidote would surely be able to negate the effects of the spell she was currently under.

Hermione quickly copied down everything on those pages. Including the love potion. It might come in handy later. Hermione scanned done the Amortentia antidote ingredients while she copied. Ashwinder eggs, moondew, lovage. All the ingredients seemed pretty basic, except...bicorn horn. That ingredient was rare and it didn't come supplied in the seventh year potion kit, which was relatively advanced. She would have to order it...or try to sneak into the potion master's ingredients cabinet once more to steal it. But if Snape caught her...

Hermione laid down the book and bit her lip in thought. If Snape caught her it would give him all the rights to expel her. Even though she was Harry Potter's right hand and the best seventh year in the school, he would have the right. And even after all that happened, even though he was technically one of the Order members, he didn't give Gryfindors any slack. She still couldn't exactly figure the man out. What drove him? But she knew that stealing ingredients from Snape would be risky.

She finished copying the pages from the book, concentrating on the words, because she couldn't think of what to do at the moment. She checked the time when she returned the book to its shelf. There was still a half hour before dinner so she packed her things and headed to her dormitory to freshen up. She took a shower and she thought about her choices. Steal the bicorn horn or place an order for it from Diagon Alley or wait out the month or use the risky pheromone potions. She knew she couldn't wait out the month without doing something stupid. She wouldn't be able to complete her assignments. Including the progress exams that were due in just two weeks, right before the Valentine's Day ball, to test the seventh year's preparation for NEWTs. She has a very bad feeling about the pheromone potions. And orders on special items usually took months! That only option left was...Snape's cabinet. She turned off the valve of the shower and stepped out onto the rug.

As she dried herself and got dressed, her resolve got stronger. Hermione's mind started racing, like all those months ago in the war when she had to come up with battle tactics. Her friend's lives weren't at stake this time, but her future was. If she didn't take care of this problem now, she wouldn't be able to get tops scores on her NEWTs. She was also leaving herself at risk of a nasty rumor about Malfoy and herself spreading. Her reputation would be ruined and she would have wasted her education at the best school of witchcraft and wizardry. She knew what she had to do.

As Hermione Granger walked out of her room that evening, she left a neatly folded pair of black jeans and a fitted black t-shirt laying on her four poster bed. It was an outfit she often wore on her nights of battle during the war. She was going to be wearing it again tonight.

A/N- I was thinking about writing Chapter 5 (which I think is going to be very exciting) before posting up Chapter 4 so the wait was shorter (especially since this is more of a plot builder chapter that I wrote gulp by gulp since I've been busy). But I decided just to post it up now. Sorry for the delay. I'll be free in two weeks and I'll write lots of good long chapters. :) Meanwhile, I'll start and keep writing Chapter 5 slowly in these two last weeks of class.


	5. Chapter 5

I don' t own Harry Potter.

Chapter 5

Dinner with Harry, Ron, and Ginny was a tense affair. At least for Hermione it was. She simply could not relax, although she put on a smile and tried to go through the motions of eating. She was just so conscious of her every movement. A thousand eyes were staring at her. Or so it seemed to her. She imagined the piercing gaze of Draco Malfoy on her back. She felt the hawk like stare of Professor Snape from the professor's table. And she couldn't hide from the questioning eyes of Harry. Of course, she was only half imagining these things, because Professor Snape didn't have any reason to look at the Gryffindors with any more scrutiny than usual, at least not yet.

When she had entered the Great Hall, her eyes immediately searched for Draco. She found him in his usual spot at the Slytherin table. He almost seemed to have sensed her and looked up. His eyes were drawn and cold and his face didn't register much. She wanted to turn her eyes away, but she couldn't help hold the contact for a few seconds longer because she just wanted to know why in the world hadn't he told anyone about last night. Just leave it to a Malfoy to find a way to play mind games. She turned around and found her place at the Gryffindor table and gave her back to him. And ever since she had that feeling that he was watching her.

Her friends had already been sitting at the table and had welcomed her with big gleeful hellos.

"Hermione! How have you been?" Ginny said, her rosy cheeks complimented by her long straight red hair.

"Wef oof bween Hermouufni?" Ron said with his mouthful.

"Glad to see you!" Harry gave her a dazzling smile.

They were so warm and inviting, her first smiles had been genuine and wide, and as she gave first Ron and then Harry a quick hug, she practically forgot about her problems and what she had planned for that night. She felt cozy sitting between Ron and Harry. But once she explained to both of them that she had been studying and the eating started, she zoned out of the table conversation.

She had planned out the route for the night. It was best not to sneak out of the dormitory at after hours, it was too risky to be seen. Instead she was going to hide out close to the dungeons until past curfew. She would stash her mission clothes in her book bag and act as if she was going to spend a night studying at one of her usual alcoves in the library. She didn't have prefect duty, so she wouldn't be missed. She would change in a second floor bathroom and hide out there. She knew an entrance to the dungeons that was very close to Snape's classroom. Once two 'o clock came, she would make her move.

And that is where Hermione found herself at two 'o clock that night. Everything had gone according to plan so far. She had said good night to her friends and no one suspected anything.

She reached Snape's classroom quickly. She had checked her surroundings and there was no one in sight. She took a deep breath and grabbed the handle to the classroom door. It wouldn't turn. She muttered a simple Alohomora and it unlocked. She opened the door and took a hesitant step inside.

The cabinet was at the end of the room to the left. She crept towards it in the dark, with her stealth charm still on her.

She reached the cabinet. She said a few anti-curse charms just in case an alarm was in place and grabbed the handle. Thankfully nothing happened. She pull the wooden door but it would not opened. She curse silently. In second year the door had opened. But that had been during the day. Perhaps Snape charmed it close at night or maybe he was just more careful since that year.

Hermione tried another Alohomora with no luck. She tried all the door unlocking charms she knew: Liberare, Dunamis, and Emancipare. When none of them worked she started to get nervous. It seemed like he had worked a very strong magic on the doors...she didn't know what to expect. And that's when she heard the hiss. It came from above her and she looked up. She saw a pair of red eyes and a snapping jaw with a lot of glistening teeth. Something that looked like a winged alligator was perched on top of the cabinet. Hermione sucked in her breath and froze. She really wanted that ingredient and she didn't wanted to give up. But a terror like dragon fear was gripping her now that she was facing this creature. She gathered her courage and send a blasting charm at the cabinet in one last attempt.

It made a large boom. But when the magic cleared the cabinet was intact and the creature had now climbed over the top of the cabinet and was at eye level with Hermione. She gave a shriek and jumped back. The creature shrieked too, a croaky screech. It snapped at her face and she lurched back again but this time she turned and ran. She heard the creature's claws scrape against wood as it lowered itself. And then she heard a loud flop as it fell onto the floor. And the sound of claws on stone. It was following her! Hermione ran as fast as she could. She reached the door to the hall and grabbed the handle. It was closed. The creature was coming closer. She pulled on the door, not thinking. It didn't budge. The creature gave another shriek and gurgle and Hermione snapped out of it. "Duh Hermione! Try magic!" She thought to herself. She chanted another Alohomora and the locked click. She pulled open the door, came out, and slammed the door back closed. She heard some more shuffles from the other side and then an impressive thud slammed against the door. And Another one and another one. And then there was silence. Hermione sighed in relief and rested against the wall across the door. She had gotten away. But she had not gotten the ingredient. And then she heard the wail. The creature was wailing. It sounded like an alarm and it probably was an alarm. Hermione who had been standing there in the hall thinking, ran for it. Ran without thinking until she couldn't hear the wail. After a few seconds she noticed she didn't know where she was heading exactly and that she had to hide for a while until the coast was clear and to collect her thoughts. She tried the door of the next room she saw and opened it. It was a small room, practically a closet and it was empty. She went inside. And she collapsed onto the floor, her legs weak, collecting her breath. What the heck had just happened? Suddenly the door slammed opened.

"I thought I told you third years that if I caught playing any more stupid pranks I wo-"

Hermione, startled, jumped at the voice and looked up. She recognized that haughty tone anywhere. Her eyes locked with silver. Draco Malfoy was standing at the doorway. He had stopped talking the moment he saw her. His eyes had also registered surprise but now they had once more receded into coldness. She was suddenly very aware of the fact that he was blocking her only exit.

"What are you doing here?" he said. His tone was low and menacing.

Hermione swallowed hard. She had always been accosted by Malfoy but this was the first time she felt fear of him. Her nerves were probably still on end from Snape's creature. She didn't know what to say.

Draco scowled at her lack of response and approached her. The door closed all but a sliver. The light from the lantern down the dungeon hallway had given little illumination when Draco burst in, and now she could barely see his outline.

"I said, what are you doing here Mudblood?" He gripped her upper arm hard and yanked her up. "I thought I told you to stay away from me. I think you don't understand how dangerous it is to play in my dungeon." Hermione was still in shock. What could she tell him? About the potion? About Snape's cupboard? He was going to report her. He was going to get her expelled. And even if he didn't manage to get her kicked out, she wasn't going to be able to break the love enchantment and she would fail her classes. Already her body was turning on her. Part of her was happy to be so near him. To smell his musk and feel his heat and hear his voice. Her stomach was doing little flip flops. Even though at the moment she couldn't be entirely sure they weren't out of fear.

There had to be something she could do. Something.

She suddenly twisted her arm in an attempt to get out of his grip, while she pushed him with her other hand. She caught him by surprise and managed to pull herself free. She quickly reached for the door but he was already behind her. He gave her a hard push into the door and she slammed into it, closing it instead of being able to open it. He was pressing his body against her back to keep her in place and was trying to grab her wrists. She squirmed and tried to push back on his body to get away. She clawed at his hands and tried to stop him from pinning her down, but in the end he overpowered her. He had both of her wrists held in one of his hands behind her back. They were both breathing heavily. She felt so trapped. 

"Let me go Malfoy!" She continued thrashing about but his hold did not lessen. "I told you to let me go!"

"What are you doing down here?" He repeated, the words were hissed in her ear. After a few more tries to rip her arms out of his grip she gave up and stood still. Neither of them spoke. They were both breathing heavily and for many moments that was the only thing Hermione could hear.

She wanted to cry. It was so frightening to be trapped by this bastard. Everything had gone wrong. She was ashamed of how her body was getting stimulated by the whole situation. And she just didn't know what to do anymore. But she wasn't going to cry. She wasn't. Not in front of him.

Suddenly Malfoy tightened his grip on her wrists. The pressure burned and she winced. "This is the last time I'm going to repeat myself. What are you doing here? What the hell if going on? If you don't speak I'm going to march you straight to Snape's office Mudblood."

Her pride stung but she didn't care any longer. Her voice wavered at first and she spoke lowly, but it was so quiet she was sure he could hear her.

"I-I drank some of that love potion. That stupid love potion your third-years slipped into the pumpkin juice a few days ago. And I can't concentrate on anything because it's making me want to touch...you."

As Hermione spoke, she noticed that his hold on her wrists had slackened. She could no longer hear his steady breathing in her ear. She took the chance to turn around and finally freed herself. Her eyes had gotten used to the dark. And so she could see his face since it was so close to hers.

"I hate you Malfoy...but not being near you is driving me mad. I can't do my class work. I can't sleep. I don't want to touch you but just being near you makes me feel so..." She closed the distance between them, gently held him by the shoulders, and softly locked her lips with his. His lips were soft and immediately she was engulfed in a warmth that wrapped itself all the way to her toes. The room was practically swimming. And then she was slammed back.

"Disgusting. I don't want your filth on me! Why don't you just get the antidote Pomfrey was handing out? You're just using this as an excuse. If you want me so bad, you should just admit it."

"Pomfrey is all out of potion! There won't be any more for a month. Malfoy. I can't attend classes normally unless I have had some contact with you at least once a week."

"That's your problem, not mine. Don't get me involved. There are more important things than grades Granger. Why don't you just do us all a favor and leave the school until you get your little problem fixed." He moved to get past her but she blocked the door.

"The NEWTs aptitude exam is coming up next week! You know how important that is Malfoy! You're not stupid!"

During the conversation Hermione's mind had come up with something. If she could get Malfoy to agree with it she could survive the month. It was a crazy idea but since he hadn't laughed at her or threatened to humiliate her in front of the whole school with the truth she thought this could actually work.

"Get out of my way Granger." He grabbed her forearm again.

"Why haven't you told anyone that I kissed you that night?" She looked straight into his eyes. They were burning into hers, a liquid silver.

"Because I don't want anyone to know I got contaminated by a Mudblood. I assure you, it has nothing to do with you."

He was still a bigot, but Hermione had missed the moment when the loud mouth show-off Malfoy Jr had matured a little and gotten the discrete finesse his father was so well known for. She made her decision.

"I have proposition for you Malfoy. If you meet with me once a week for a month, only four times, I will...have the Slytherin house win the House Cup this year." She saw Malfoy's eyes momentarily widen in surprised for the second time that night. She knew he was very interested in winning the cup. It would give him everlasting glory over the Gryffindor's despite everything that had happened in the war. But with the Slytherin third years who had planted the love potion losing the house so many points, Slytherins were currently the last in place for the cup.

"How would you do that?" Draco asked and narrowed his eyes.

"I have my ways. I swear I will do it. If I don't come through you can just stop meeting with me."

"Yeah but after a month you won't need to meet with me anymore. How will I know you will come through then?"

"I gave you my word."

"_Your_ word means nothing to a Malfoy. I want you do something before the month is up... Rig the first quidditch match of the season. We're playing against Ravenclaw in two weeks. Make sure we win. If you don't do it, the deal is off. And if I catch you anywhere near me, I won't hesitate to hurt you."

He was looming over her again and she felt her heart trying to jump out her throat.

This was really happening. "Okay."

"What do I have to do when we meet?"

Hermione blushed. "Just let me kiss you, just once."

His face showed disgust but he said "Okay."

Hermione held out her hand. "Then we have a deal. Let's shake on it."

Malfoy scowled but he shook her hand firmly.

"Meet me in the same corridor I kissed you the first time next Monday. At the same time. I have my rounds there again."

There was silence. She wanted him to speak but he didn't say another word. He was just staring her right in the eyes, trying to read her. He made her want to jump out of her skin.

"Well...I'll be going first." She backed up a bit and turned to the side so she could open the door. Her back brushed his and he didn't move. She pressed the handle and opened the door inward. Light flooded them. She peaked out the corridor and it was clear.

Hermione looked back one last time. Draco's face was stoic and serious but his eyes were still focused on her .She inclined her head at him. "Good night then."

And then she quickly walked out of the room. Away from him.

She made her way quickly out the dungeon, worried that Snape's creature had alerted the professor. Her heart was still racing with adrenaline. She could not believe what had just happened. She felt light and liberated for more than one reason.

She had not been expecting any of that to happen. But she had finally found a solution to her problem. Having to have asked Draco to help her was embarrassing, but she could swallow her pride. At least he did not laugh and he was all business as well. However, making a deal with such a devil was horrifying. His gaze was burned into her mind.

Sacrificing the House Cup was a little hard as well. She thought about the disappointment that would bring Harry. But she thought he would understand her position if he knew. The fact that he was spending a final year at Hogwarts like a normal student who didn't have to worry about crazy murderers or war was prize enough for him. She still felt very guilty.

A guilt that was mixed with the joy of having found a solution, the apprehension of having to meet Malfoy again, and the fear of having to rig the first quidditch game.

Finally reaching the warm Gryffindor common room was such a relief. She was home safe. At least as safe as she could feel at the moment. Too much had happened in one night.

And suddenly Hermione found herself very much alone. She crossed the common room and sat in her favorite chair in the empty room besides the empty fireplace.

She started to cry. Finally letting out those tears she had held back when he had trapped her in that small room. And all the tears she had held back the past days since she had been trapped by that love potion. Because despite having felt liberated after making the deal, she was perhaps now more trapped than ever before.

A/N- I'm so sorry for the delay! I didn't really write over my break and now that school is back I got inspired to write again. I guess I like writing as a break from my schoolwork. Sorry again for the delay. This chapter is very very long. I hope you guys enjoy it and it was worth the wait. I'm curious to know what you think about it.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N- I have no excuse this time. I was busy with school but I also didn't have any will to write. But I won't ever give up on this fanfic. I will at least give it an ending. I promise you that.

Also, many of you have noted the mistake with Madame Pomfrey in the library. Haha! It was a mistake. I meant Madame Pince. One day I will probably go back and proofread/edit all the chapters. But for now, a new one.

_I don't own Harry Potter._

Eyes of Silver, Heart of Gold

So far….3rd year Slytherins planted a love potion in the morning pumpkin juice of the other three houses. Hermione fell victim to the potion. Since the first person she walked into after drinking it was Draco Malfoy, she became unwillingly attracted to him. What's more, the potion makes her feel weak and lethargic if she does not come into contact with Malfoy at least once a week. Madame Pomfrey has run out of antidote for the potion so Hermione has to wait one whole month in her current state. After having exhausted other options, a desperate Hermione confides in Malfoy and makes an arrangement with him. He agrees to meet with her once a week if she gets Slytherin the House Cup that year, starting with rigging the first Quidditch game.

**Chapter 6**

Hermione woke up the next day with a clear head. Ironically, that upset her. Her head would usually pound after a night of crying. Her lack of headache was an unwanted reminder of last night's events.

She lay in her bed, her eyes wide open without of a wink of sleepiness between them. "So I have made a deal with a snake..." Hermione thought.

She was proclaimed the smartest witch of her age but it was amazing how he still intimidated her into a dumb stupor. Now more than ever he made her fearful because he had this great big secret on her. One slip of tongue from him and it was all over. She could readily expect angry explosions from Ron and most of the Gryffindors her age, and even Harry. More so Harry...all those horrible things Malfoy had said about his dead mum and dad over the years were so hurtful, who would blame Harry for being angry if he found out his best friend was snogging Malfoy.

"Lavender! Did you take my white blouse?"

"No!"

"Yes you did! Mine has the lace trim! Give it back!"

Hermione heard a chortle of giggles and the muffled sound of feet pounding across the carpeted floor that made her snap out of her thoughts. The loudest and squealiest of the giggles she knew belonged to Lavender.

Hermione bolted up into a seated position on her bed. Her curtains were drawn so the other girls in her dormitory hadn't noticed her. She normally was the earliest riser. Hopefully, her unusual behavior would go unnoticed if she stayed hidden in bed.

She decided to lie in bed until they left and flopped back down. It really did feel nice to feel normal again and rested.

"But at what price..." Her conscious was whizzing in her head. Their next meet up would be in a week, two days before the NEWTS preliminary exam. If she didn't meet up with him then, she would do horribly in her exams.

Even if she had not made the deal with Malfoy, she doubted her self-control. She would have probably attacked him again before week-end and without clueing Malfoy in, he would have probably taken severe actions against her. He wouldn't have reported her outright to any professor in order to prevent rumors, but memories of first through fourth year made her know especially well that Slytherins had many other ways to make your school life a living nightmare.

But rigging the Quidditch match...giving over the House cup...

Hermione closed her eyes and pressed her hands over her face.

_That_ betrayal was what hurt the most. She couldn't bear to even think about it. She would be betraying her morals as a prefect, the school traditions and, worst of all, Harry and Ron and Ginny and all of Gryffindor. Her red and gold lion den, she would shroud them in darkness.

Hermione shook her head. It was eating at her insides but it did no good to drive herself mad by running circles inside her head. She was a logical girl. There had been no other way, she had tried. Yes, it was selfish, but NEWTS would affect her career indefinitely while the Gryffindor would get over the disappointment eventually...right?

"Wait for me!" said Parvati. Hermione heard the door slam. The room was empty. She was finally alone.

Hermione got out of bed and quickly got ready. She still had last night's stealth mission clothes on. She remembered the monster from Snape's security system with a shudder. That had been a monster straight out of a Muggle horror film. Clearly, there were many types of magic she had yet to discover. Just like the damned love potion.

By the time she made it to the common room it was empty except for a second year still passed out in an armchair near the fire, two older students trying different spells on a paper airplane and three other fourth years, frantically scribbling what was obviously last minute homework.

None of them glanced at the Head Girl as she made her way out of the room. She rushed down to the Great Hall, which was not as deserted as her common room. She sat down and caught her breath as she served herself some toast and juice.

Glancing around she noted that her friends weren't around. That said quite a lot about how often she had been disappearing on them. In other years they had waited for her, no matter how long she was taking. I guess they had gotten tired of waiting.

And she also noticed that Malfoy wasn't at the Slytherin tables and neither were any other seventh year. Except Theodore Nott, who was reading a book, while he inattentively ate a pastry bun.

She didn't have any classes with the Slytherins, which was definitely something to celebrate. No prefect meetings until week end. And that only left meals, but she definitely could avoid Draco at those. The thought made her feel a lot better. It was time to study and forget about the blond prick until she had to think about him again. She wanted to become a witch so successful that no catastrophes such as ancient love potions or monster security systems would ever take her by surprise again.

The rest of the day went by in a happy flash. She paid attention in all her classes and snuggled herself between Harry and Ron while they walked between class. They had given her semi-serious looks at first that clearly expressed they were not pleased that she had disappeared yet again last night. Her bubbly mood, however, must have been contagious because after a few prods and failed attempted to keep a straight face, they started smiling again. She made them come to the library with her after lunch and she tutored them in Potions (ironically) and Charms. It was a great review for herself. And at night after dinner, she convinced Harry to teach her and a few Gryffindor a few spells and tactics for their Defense Against the Dart Arts NEWTS. In her books, it could not have been a better day.

Except when she was back alone in her bed she remembered that she was deceiving her friends, and she only had been able to enjoy the day because of a certain person she had forced herself to stop thinking about all day.

"Hermione! Hermione!" The next day as she walked in the hall she caught sight of a flash of red hair and a freckled face before she came into view of Ginny Weasley's full frame.

"Hey Ginny! What's going on?"

"I saw you by chance and I realized we haven't chatted in a while. Not without the boys around. I haven't had the chance to ask you about the Valentine's Day ball! Who are you going with?"

"I haven't been thinking about that at all, apart from approving a few items with some professors. With the NEWTS coming up who has the time?" The Valentine's Day ball was the day after the NEWTS.

"Oh come on Hermione! It's your last dance at Hogwarts. We have to make it spectacular. And you don't want a slime ball as your date, hanging around you all night."

"It's okay, I haven't thought about it, but if any thing I'll ask Neville or I'll go alone."

"Alone? No way! It's preferable you ask Neville. But really you don't have anyone in particular you want to go with?" She demanded with her hands at her waist.

"No I really don't." Hermione shrugged her shoulder.

"Unbelievable! Don't tell me you aren't still hung up on my brother!"

"Heavens no! I haven't thought of Ron in that way in the long time. I just don't really fancy any one at the moment." She willed herself to not picture Draco Maloy's face in her head.

"Thank goodness. At least ask Neville. He's a little dense but he's a sweetie."

Hermione smiled, remembering how Neville had taken Ginny to her first Hogwarts dance before any other boys had taken an interest in her. "I know, I know. I'll ask him, alright? I thought you would be more excited about the Quidditch season starting back up soon." Hermione felt a pang in her stomach right after she said that sentence as she remembered what she was supposed to do for the first Quidditch match of the season.

"Yeah, but our game is not for a ways off. The first game is Slytherin versus Ravenclaw and that'll be an absolute bore. But maybe Luna will commentate. She's always interesting." She grinned.

"Yeah." Hermione smiled back although it didn't quite reach her eyes. It wasn't going to be an interesting game for Ginny, but for her it was going to be the day all her morals were tested.

"Well, I have to keep going down the greenhouses. We'll chat again soon! What are you wearing?" She asked this last question as she was already walking away backward and waving.

"I really have no idea! Bye Ginny! Please turn around and walk normal before you trip and fall on your face!" Hermione laughed.

"Bye!" Ginny said before turning around and turning a corner.

Hermione shook her head. Gosh Ginny was a handful. She was good for Harry though. He could be quite introverted at times and Ginny has blossomed into quite the social girl. But Ginny had been shy once upon a time too, so they could understand each other. They were perfect for each other. She hoped to find something similar to what they had one day. But for now, she had the misfortune of finding herself in the middle of quite the...dilemma.

And as if she had materialized him with her mind, in the very corner Ginny had just turned to leave a minute ago, appeared one Malfoy with Blaise Zabini and Millicent Bulstrode in tow. Quite the odd trio, but she knew they were some of the few seniors taking the final Herbology class at Hogwarts. Neville complained about them quite a lot.

Her eyes immediately locked with his. Brown met silver. And she felt the strangest pull. Her eyes did not stop following him for a second. She couldn't even blink. It was the first time she saw him since that night. He looked at her and then turned his face away, staring impassively ahead. His face betrayed nothing which was a major juxtaposition to her own composure. Hermione felt tense and her face was flushed, her mouth half open.

"What's she looking at?" She heard Millicent growl. Millicent now left Hermione alone, out-growing being a bully after they turned fifteen, but she was still a force to be reckoned with.

Hermione snapped out of it. They were now passing right in front of her. Draco was still looking ahead, while Millicent glared at her. Blaise glanced back at her once with curiosity as they almost reached the next corner. And then they were gone. And still she was staring.

"Augggh!" Hermione screamed silently in her mind. She wanted to disappear. Again she had been reduced to a brainless zombie in the midst of Malfoy. She might as well as have knelt and bowed as he passed by since she had practically drooled at the sight of him. Clearly, this was an effect of the ridiculous potion.

Hermione spent the rest of the day pointedly NOT thinking about Draco Malfoy. She was determined to enjoy her time as a normal Hogwarts student. After the encounter, she had gone to her last class and immersed herself in the lecture. Then she had stayed in the library until dinner. At dinner she sat down amongst her friends and let herself go. There was one point she laughed so hard at one of Ron and Seamus' antics that she choked on her food. She caught Harry's gaze across the table and they both had smiled widely at each other.

After dinner, pretty much the entire seventh year class of Hogwarts headed to the library to study for NEWTS. Although seventh years ruled supreme in their Houses, they couldn't control all of their underclassmen so it was best to study outside of the common room due to the noise.

Hermione found it odd to see the library so full of students. She couldn't decide whether she liked it or not. She couldn't help notice that the Slytherins had taken control of a cluster of desks on the far side of the room, where one head with shocking white blonde hair was noticeable to Hermione. However, it was nice to have the company of her friends. The library was buzzing with a quiet energy and it was funny to see the scrunched up eyebrows of boys like Ron and Harry who did not particularly enjoy studying.

Hermione immersed herself in the company and her books, and before she knew it she had lost track of time. Her friends had all given up on trying to cram any more information into their heads about an hour ago. She had stayed behind because she was determined to get back on track on her study plan.

But with one last flourish of her pen, Hermione closed her book and stretched. She was officially caught up in her studies! She couldn't believe she had gotten one week's worth done in a couple of days. Having her brain working normally was great. She waved her wand to check the time which told her it was close to three in the morning.

She packed her things and practically skipped out of the library. But before she exited the large room, with its rows of desks surrounded by bookshelves, she couldn't help look one last time at the desks where Malfoy had been studying. He wasn't there. There were only three other students left in the room. Two of which were sleeping. And they weren't him…

She couldn't help feel disappointed. But she shook the ridiculous notion from her head and left.

Hermione's wand woke her up as it emitted magical sparks that tickled her face. She grabbed it out of the air and made herself sit up on her four poster bed. She rubbed the sleepiness from her eyes. She had decided to wake up early because she had a few Head Girl duties to perform that day. But since she had stayed up so late the night before, she was tired.

"I really shouldn't push myself this much..." Hermione thought. Otherwise she would have to pay Malfoy an early visit. The thought of asking another favor from him as he stared at her with his disapproving grey eyes made her shudder.

"Stupid Malfoy…." She actually whispered out loud as she pushed the curtain of her bed aside and swung out of bed. She went to her side drawers and pull out fresh clothes before heading over to the girl's shower.

As she got ready Hermione thoughts drifted to Malfoy. She already felt tired, and the restless stirring that meant she wanted to see him had started. It had only been three days since she had met with him down in that room in the dungeons. The next meet up wasn't for another four days.

It was going to be a long four days….

The Head Boy was Harry. She loved working with Harry on Head duties because if anyone loved Hogwarts, it was him. Hermione was very happy for him because he never had gotten to be a prefect, but as Head Boy he got all the perks and honors of a prefect and more.

He also had a lot of good ideas on how to make events for the students special. She always guessed it was because he used to spend a lot of time imagining what would have made his days special and happy when he lived with Muggles and his aunt and uncle were horrid to him.

Harry and she had agreed to work in the Great Hall an hour before breakfast was served to organize themselves. There were many things coming up.

When she came down the stairs to the girl's dormitories, he was already in the common room. Harry's unruly hair was extra messy. She wanted to laugh but she kept her composure and instead she beamed him a smile.

"Rough time getting up?" she asked him.

"Ye..yeaAAAAaH" his reply came out as he yawn.

Now she did laugh. "Hahaha! Oh Harry, come on, let's go." She pulled him along by the arm.

In the Great Hall, Hermione pulled out the file she had especially for Head duties.

"So, here is the calendar for the next few days." Hermione said as she flattened out the said calendar.

"The prefect's meeting is tomorrow, Friday. The NEWTs prelims are five days later on the following Wednesday and Thursday. Thursday is also Valentine's Day and we should move the next prefect meeting to this day because the following Friday is the Valentine's Day Ball."

Harry blinked at her a few times.

"You got it?" Hermione said.

"It's so early….but yes I got it." Harry said we a sheepish grin.

She smiled. "Okay, so we should make the prefect patrol schedule for the next two weeks because I'm sure we won't have time for it next week. We also need to create a prefect decoration task schedule and share it tomorrow during the meeting. Did you get Flitwick's and McGonagall's schedules?"

The prefects were to help the professors create decorations for the ball.

Harry reached down for his bag, rifled through his papers, and brought back two parchments. "Right here" he said as he placed them on the table. Somehow Harry's hair was standing up even more than before.

"Great! Okay, I got Snape's and Sprout's. Did you get any particular requests from either professor?"

"Professor McGonagall asked for you, Susan Bones, Blaise Zabinni, and Padma Patil in particular for decoration transfiguration. She said she knows you'll be busy with NEWTS so she wants to get everything on her part done by Saturday. And Flitwick requested Ginny, Dean, and Ernie for the charms."

Hermione noticed that Harry frowned when he said Ginny would be working with her ex Dean. She was a little surprised because Harry was always normal with Dean, but she guessed Harry was being protective of Ginny.

"You could put yourself into that group too" she told him knowingly.

Harry looked back up at her with a sheepish look. "Yeah, I probably will. But that gets me thinking. A lot of people are probably going to complain if we assigned them jobs that they don't like or with people they don't like. Shouldn't we let them choose during the meeting? Except for those the professor requested. We just need to limit the number of prefects per task."

Hermione nodded. "Okay, good point. It's true. It'll also be less work for us."

Harry smiled. "Also, Valentine's Day and NEWTS pre-lims in one day… I think we should get the fifth and sixth year prefects to patrol the halls during the day as well."

"Okay, we'll make another schedule for that. That pretty much covers it right? We just have to make sure we don't schedule any patrols for seventh years for next Tuesday and Wednesday because of NEWTs." Hermione said.

Harry nodded. "Okay let's make the prefect patrol schedules first." Hermione said.

They spent the next forty five minutes doing just that. The food magically appeared in the Great Hall right on time. They put their parchments away and agreed to continue working on schedules before dinner.

They each grabbed some pumpkin juice and food and digged in.

Hermione's heart was threatening to jump out of her chest. It was Friday evening, just a few minutes before the prefect meeting.

Harry and she had spent a good portion of the previous evening preparing all the schedules and sign up parchments for the ball preparations. Once they had finished they hurried to the library to continue studying.

Hermione had felt unbearably tired all day. The strain of the studying and planning was taking a huge toll on her. And seeing Malfoy studying at a desk across the library made her feel a pang in her heart. She felt herself becoming anxious to see him. And doubts began to plague her thoughts.

"Would he really show up on Monday? What would happen to her if he didn't? Had she mentioned the meeting time and place? Why couldn't this madness stop?"

The buzzing in her head from anxiety didn't die down that night, and for the first time that week, she couldn't sleep even though she had gone to bed early. She kept picturing Malfoy. Hermione would have given anything to have it all stop right then.

Now as she stood in the prefect meeting room, waiting for all the fifth through seventh year prefects to file in, Hermione's stomach was in knots and she felt weak. She had been debating in her head whether or not to approach Malfoy after the meeting to confirm their Monday arrangement. She knew in her head she mostly just wanted to talk to him but she couldn't seem to stop.

When he entered she immediately noticed and she looked straight at him. He had come in with Pansy Parkinson and Theodore Nott in tow, and they were making their way to a group of seats in the back. She knew she shouldn't be staring. Harry could notice, anyone could notice, but she couldn't stop. Hermione wished he would look at her.

As if he had read her mind, he stop listening to something Pansy was saying to him and looked straight to the front of the room and locked eyes with her. His eyes had narrowed the moment he saw she was looking at him and his expression clearly indicated he was not pleased.

"….ione. Hermione!" Harry's voice had broken her trance. She looked at Harry and momentarily panicked because she thought he had noticed. Harry was just handing her some papers. He looked distracted himself, as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"I think it's about time to start." Harry said.

Hermione nodded. She mustered up all her courage and got all off the room's attention. She felt like she was going to faint because she could feel her body being pierced by a certain silver gaze.

Hermione explained the prefect schedule. The schedules were for the next two weeks and were made with the NEWTS pre-lims in mind. She advised that if anyone had any qualms about the schedule to ask for changes now, otherwise they were set in stone. Surprisingly no one had any problems, probably because Harry and her had paired prefects up from within the same house.

Harry then took over and explained that sixth and fifth years would have to patrol during the day on Valentine's Day. This announcement *did* bring up quite a clamor from the younger students.

"We need time to get ready for the ball next day!" said one Ravenclaw sixth year girl with short blonde hair.

"We fifth years have OWLs too you know!" said a fifth year Hufflepuff boy.

"Oh stop whining. Do you girls really need a whole day to prepare for a ball?" said Ron Weasley who was sitting in the front. He earned a glare from most females in the room, including his little sister who was sitting next to him and gave him a hard pinch. "Owww!"

Harry spoke over the clamor and explained that he was aware fifth years had OWLs to study for but they didn't have preliminary OWLs like the seventh years had preliminary NEWTS. Also, the rounds were short, with only one to two hours per person. It wouldn't take much time out of their day. That quiet up everyone although there still were some scowls.

Lastly, Harry brought up the ball decorations and how all prefects would be assisting the professors. He revealed the four parchments they had pinned up for each professor. Harry explained Professor McGonagall would be in charge of transfiguring decorations therefore prefects assisting her would be in charge of all the major decorations, including streamers, banners, columns, fountains, centerpieces and anything else. Professor Flitwick was in charge of charming the fountain, lights and providing the music.

Hermione explained that Professor Sprout would be providing the flowers, plants, and fairy lights. And lastly Professor Snape was in charge of aesthetics and overseeing food preparation.

Hermione could feel her face getting hot while she spoke because she remembered asking Snape for his ball preparation schedule and he had looked at her unappreciatively and suspiciously. Hermione had been sweating inside for fear he suspected anything of her intrusion into the potions office the other night. After his observation, Snape finally had replied shortly that he was in charge of aesthetics and food. A small part in Hermione wanted to laugh because she really could not imagine Professor Snape making sure flowers looked just right or discussing food menus with a house elf. Snape also informed her that he would be much too busy to take care of it himself, and to tell Draco Malfoy he was delegating all the work to him. Hermione had flushed red at that which warranted an odd look from Professor Snape before he dismissed her.

Hermione had asked Harry to make the announcement about the professors' special requests before the meeting had started.

Harry was now announcing how Professor Flitwick had specifically asked for Dean, Ginny, and Ernie. When he got to Snape, Harry smiled almost smugly at Draco across the room as he informed him that Snape was leaving all the work "delicate" work to him.

Hermione purposely looked away from Draco. She did not want him to think she had anything to do with it.

Harry said that those were all the announcements for the night and for everyone to make sure they were aware of their rounds and signed up for a decoration task. Each task was going to be completed on different days based on each professor and the dates and time were posted on the parchments. He also told them the next meeting was on Valentine's Day night. There were more groans and protests from the girls. Ron exaggeratedly rolled his eyes and stood up, making his way to the parchments pinned to the board. Most everyone else followed suit despite the protests.

Hermione stood near Sprout's parchment at the end of the row just in case anyone had any questions. She still was purposely averting her gaze from Malfoy. But she finally couldn't help herself and looked up. She immediately found him because he was staring right at her, rage written on his features. Why was he mad at her?!

Luckily this was an open classroom full of people and he couldn't do anything to her there right? Fortunately, she had one of the Hufflepuff prefects approach her with a question about Sprout's decoration responsibilities and she was able to distract herself.

When she looked up again she noticed Draco was sitting at on a desk. Parkinson and Nott were nowhere to be seen so she assumed they had been told to go ahead by Malfoy. In fact, almost everyone was gone except Ron, Harry and Ginny, and the last group of fifth year Hufflepuffs who were heading towards the door.

"What's wrong with that?! I'm with you now! Why should that matter?!" Hermione looked over to her friends where an angry Ginny was now screaming at Harry.

"Uh oh…" thought Hermione. Harry had opened his big mouth for some reason about the Dean situation and gotten himself in hot water.

"There is no problem," Harry responded, "I just would prefer to be there is all. I am also good with charms!"

"You have to trust me! What, do you think I throw myself over all my exes when you're not looking?" shrilled Ginny.

Harry's was getting a little red, as where Ginny's cheeks. "No! But why can't I be there?! Isn't it normal for a boyfriend to want to be near his girlfriend? What's wrong with that? If I had to go to Quidditch practice and Cho Chang was going to be there while you weren't, I'm sure you wouldn't like it!"

"I wouldn't care!" Ginny said.

"Oh really?" Harry said.

"Really! Go back to the tart for all I care." And at that Ginny turned around and left the room in a huff. "Come on Ronald." She grabbed Ron by his arm and yanked him out of the room. It was almost funny except for Ron's terrified face. Ron always said Ginny in mad-mode scarily reminded him of a mad Molly Weasley.

"Bloody hell" muttered Harry. He grabbed his things and looked at Hermione. "I have to go, can you take care of…" He motioned to the parchments on the board which had to be delivered to the professors.

Hermione nodded. "Don't worry about it. Go! And Harry...if I were you I would drop it. You really should trust her."

Harry sigh, ran his hand through his hair and said, "I know."

"Good work Potter" said Draco at that moment, returning the favor for Harry's comment earlier and giving Harry a smug look. He clapped his hands sarcastically five times. Hermione rolled her eyes. Ugh, he was making things worst. No amount of love potion would ever stop her from thinking boys were so immature sometimes.

Harry rounded on him noticing Malfoy was still in the room for the first time. "What are you doing here!"

"I don't need to give any explanations to you, scar face."

Harry, who was still wound up with his argument with his girlfriend, looked murderous and whipped out his wand.

Hermione grabbed his arm.

"Stop it Harry, you know he's provoking you. He's just here to grab Snape's parchment. Look, you don't have time for this, you have to go after Ginny or it's going to get worse!" She pushed him towards the door. "Go."

"I can't leave you here alone with him!"

"I'll be fine. I'll be right after you after I grab those parchments."

"But…"

"GO!" Hermione insisted.

Harry turned still glowering at Malfoy who simply gave him his trademark smirk until Harry left the room, slamming the door.

Then Malfoy turned around and directed all his attention to her. He wasn't smiling any more.

Hermione's body almost twitched. There were alone! She didn't know whether to turn around and grab the parchments and run out of there as fast as she could, or if she should stay and talk to him about next Monday…plus there was the added fact that he looked angry.

"What is it that you need Malfoy?" Hermione said, deciding to stand her ground. She looked straight at him and her body felt instantly elated and she got goose bumps.

He got off the desk and stepped languidly towards her.

"Why exactly is it that I am stuck doing all of Snape's work for him? Wouldn't that be a job for the know-it-all Head Girl?" Draco said, as he stepped right in front of her, his arms crossed.

"I..it wasn't my idea Malfoy." Hermione replied. She had tried to keep his gaze but with his intensity and proximity, she faltered and she gazed down at his chest, looking at the single button on his white shirt she could see underneath his robes. "Why don't you ask your favorite professor? He was the one who especially requested you."

"Why didn't you persuade him otherwise?" he said. He stepped to the side and was now circling close behind her. "Aren't you supposed to be in love with me or something?"

She was staring at him now, her eyes had met his exactly when he had said "in love". Hermione's face was red and her mouth was in a perfect "o". Was he toying with her? What? Did he think he had her under his thumb now because he knew about the potion?

"Ri..ridiculous! I am NOT in love you. I cannot help wa…wan…_look_ at you because of the potion and you know that! And just as soon as the month is over, I will gladly never look at you again!" Her voice was a little squeaky towards the end of her sentence. She hated that.

He had raised his eyebrow slightly at her explosion. "Well you better do a bloody better job of not staring at me in the halls or in class. I do not want people to think we are associated in any way, even at the expense of your reputation." His voice was low and menacing.

"I didn't mean to do that. I'll be more careful…." She said grudgingly. But she had been staring straight into his eyes for a good minute now and the want that started at the pit of her stomach was taking over.

"I know you will, or the deal is off." He moved to the board and unpinned Snape's parchment, rolled it up and put it in his bag.

He turned back around and step back into the aisle that let out of the room. Apparently he didn't have anything else to say.

"Wait" said Hermione.

He didn't react right away, having taken a few more steps before he stopped. Hermione had thought he wasn't going to wait and had already stretched out her arm as if to reach out for him. He turned around slightly and looked at her arm, making her blush for about the hundredth time during their conversation. How embarrassing!

She lowered her arm and said in the most business-like voice she could muster. "We are still meeting on Monday, two AM, courtyard hallway next the Great Hall." She purposely made it a statement and not a question.

He looked at her steadily, but her gaze was determined and her cheeks were rosy.

"Yes" he replied.

He turned and walked out of the room. Hermione waited until he was gone and then she was able to finally breathe.

A/N- Sorry for the delay. I think the hardest thing about this chapter was that it was a  
>"transition" chapter. There were no officially meet ups, no events, or NEWTs. As a fanfic writer beginner, I am pleased about how it came out and I developed a lot of ideas on the way. I already have an idea of the end of the story, and even the middle. But these "transition" chapters, not so much clear cut ideas. I hope you enjoyed it! I'll try to write the next one sooner. I'm back into the groove now.<p> 


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